A photographic journey through Montana’s vanished towns

Karl Morledge skis with his grandson across the icy lake near Alpine, actually a small group of private cabins.

Jeremy Lurgio

Frank Hartman gazes at the old schoolyard in Horton; his father, the town's last resident, was killed by a train a year before the town was erased from the map.

Jeremy Lurgio

The community of Flatwillow preserved the old hall and began hosting annual community dances like those of the hall's heyday.

Jeremy Lurgio

Frank Hartman walks by old farm equipment in Horton.

Jeremy Lurgio

Seen through a knothole in an old structure, the sun sets on the remnants of Vananda, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has kept its place on the map despite being uninhabited.

Jeremy Lurgio

A few families still farm near the town of Fergus.

Jeremy Lurgio

Julia Ferguson drives a combine near the town of Cartersville, a former stop on the Milwaukee Railroad.

Jeremy Lurgio

A handful of families call Christina home, where a red barn with the words "Christina, Montana" marks its existence.

When I arrived at the crossroads of Cartersville Road and Highway 446, I expected to photograph only a decrepit old schoolhouse; after all, I was searching for a vanished town called Cartersville, which had shrunk so small that Montana's state government dropped it from the official state highway map. Instead, I saw signs of life: two farm kids standing on a truck in the field while their grandmother drove a combine. They led me to several farming families, who steered me to an old-timer who had lived there his entire life, and they filled me in on the history of Cartersville.

That was just one of the intriguing experiences I had in my recent exploration of nine towns that were erased from the Montana map 12 years ago. I also visited nine tiny towns that the state considered erasing but ultimately kept on the map.

Their stories, past and present, offered an unusual perspective on the fragility of place in the rural West. These towns were the smallest of the small -- one family, one year-round resident, one schoolhouse or one grain elevator. Ironically, I discovered that some towns that had vanished from the map more than a decade ago had as much life in them as some that remained.

If the last man in Horton, Mont., hadn't been struck by a train, Horton might not have vanished from Montana's highway map. One hundred fifty miles away, the community of Flatwillow faced the same fate, but the town's two families fought for their spot on the map and won.

For a photographer and adventurer, this was the perfect lens for exploring Montana. I found honest characters, back-roads lessons in history and unique Montana landscapes. After 7,000 miles on the road, I learned what the Montana Department of Transportation learned: When you propose erasing a town, it's about so much more than just words on a map.

The next time you itch for adventure, pull out an old map and compare it to a new map. Look for towns in your state that have seemingly disappeared. Hit the gravel roads in search of homestead shacks, abandoned post offices, grain elevators, schoolhouses and stories of places that used to be.

Jeremy Lurgio is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer, and an assistant professor of photojournalism and multimedia at The University of Montana School of Journalism in Missoula, Mont. His full "Lost & Found Montana" project can be viewed at www.lostandfoundmontana.com.